Why Higashi no Eden’s OP is Falling Down.

Sorry, the title is such a troll. I shall be honest, I was one of those who were fascinated when this anime began airing last Fall 2009 because of its intriguing and rather “wtf?” storyline. I don’t remember anymore what was my reason for putting it in on-hold back then but I really remember that I felt awkward after the Kuroha incident. And yes, this is a rant review.

I don’t know if it was just a coincidence that the OP sequence is entitled “Falling Down” because I honestly think the series had a slump after the Kuroha incident. It’s not like I didn’t liked that arc, but I think the series failed on trying to establish the story properly because of the vast amount of conspiracies and information it is trying to introduce to the audience — to the point it doesn’t make sense anymore. I’m not trying to mention here the good graphics and smooth animation of the series because the viewers would probably agree that it was one of the good points that the anime has, but of course, it won’t be fair to judge it simply because it looked good.

Really, I thought I was watching a very good show. I mean, it introduces lots of interesting fictional technologies such as the Eden of the East, the Society Computer ( Juiz, and the Selecao phones! <3), and I enjoyed it, with all these ideas of making a paradise for NEETs, the memory recovery of Takizawa, and how the game will end. I had a very large expectation on how the series would wrap these things up but — I was surprised with how lame the Takizawa’s reason was for wiping his memory! And yes, the lamest of all was the conclusion in the movie between Yuuki and Manonobe. They were supposed to be antagonists in the story but after the whole thing about the pursuit for Juiz(s), it went on a slump. Especially the case of Manonobe, I was really trying to figure how he would be defeated on the end, only to find out he’ll surrender and stop the fight. Lame right?

Okay, okay, Air King was pure win. The interception scene of the missiles was epic. What sucked was his request to be the King. And yes, I’m blaming Juiz for saying Noblesse Oblige! The movie was overly complicated simply because of that, with all these issues trying to find and confirm his identity. I mean — I actually do not care anymore. “Just give me the ending” is all I could think of.

I felt compelled to simply watch the movie to know the ending. With the kind of presentation, they used, I really do not want to bother already about other stuff, simply because there were lots of it already prior to the movie… The fact that they are trying to introduce conspiracies once again gets to my nerves when they haven’t really establish yet a strong cohesion with all the things that happened. Watching the movie felt like I’m being bombarded with all non-sense things I shouldn’t care about anymore like who’s Akira’s real parents are. More like, I was interested in Mameshiba’s true owner than anything else.

I could have appreciated the series better if the movie tried to resolve the remaining issues with regards to other Selecao members. I mean, they introduced the idea of this game wherein there has to be someone that should win, but the ending was so vague, and even if it’s implied that Akira won, it just doesn’t feel right, after he had shouldered yet again a responsibility by the time the movie ended. Also, is it just me, or — I just didn’t get the bell sound after Mr. Outside proclaims the end of the game, and that he had chosen the winner of the game.

I guess– there was story development, but I was left hanging. The whole cause of the game was to improve the status of Japan. It feels like the ending was hijacked. I don’t know if all of the NEETs were willing on their part but, I honestly think they were just used and taken advantage of, even by Akira himself. Enough of the idea he was trying to create a paradise for them. I mean, does the place that was established at the end of the anime could really be defined that way? In the end, the more concrete way to establish the paradise was to encourage all people to get on moving, which was the thing he did in the ending. I was hoping for something bigger and exciting plans he laid as part of ending the game but it turned out to be a cheesy phone conversation with everybody in Japan.